On a Rising Swell - by Dan Reiter (Paperback)

About the Book

In this high-speed glide through Florida surf culture, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport in a region that has produced some of the world's finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders.

Book Synopsis

Kirkus Best Indie Books of the Year 2025, Best Indie Books About America 2025

A high-speed glide through Florida surf culture and a deep dive into the lore of a classic surfing destination

Not far from where the Apollo 11 rocket launched to the moon, surfers make their way to the shore in the night. Clutching their surfboards, they chase a familiar dream: more speed, more altitude, and going beyond the limits of what has been done before. For that, they want to be the first ones to catch the early morning waves.

In this book, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport on Florida's Space Coast, a region that has produced some of the world's finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders. On this stretch of sand between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, Florida's surf history reaches back to the native Ais people of the Atlantic Coast and continues to the elites of today, including Kelly Slater, Caroline Marks, and CJ Hobgood. Reiter offers insights into the evolution of surfboard shaping and design, the distinctive culture of the East Coast surfboard industry, and the traits and traditions that make Florida surfing unique.

United by the background of Florida sun, soaring blue skies, and shifting sandbars, each one of this book's eclectic chapters tells its own story of passion and pursuit. Weaving together history, personal experiences, and interviews with the greats, Reiter redefines surf literature and invites readers to share in the thrill of a rising swell.

Review Quotes

"Surfers will appreciate the depth. . . . All the history circles back to one remarkable fact: three world champions--Kelly Slater, CJ Hobgood, and Caroline Marks--grew up along this small stretch of coast."--The Inertia

"The text is a feast for the senses . . . even the most sea-phobic readers will yearn to commune with the ocean as euphorically."--Arthur Smith, Indie editor, Kirkus

"It is from the vantage point of a sandy oceanside tourist town with a generationally deep surf community that Reiter speaks to his readers. And he does so successfully to surfers and non-surfers alike."--H-Oceans

"Intimate and charged with life . . . Reiter's conversations with and profiles of Florida surfers capture not just thrilling rides but ways of life and drifts of mind. . . . [A] rousing celebration of surfing Florida's Space Coast over decades."--Publishers Weekly, Editor's Pick

"A surfing classic fit to sit beside John Long's The Big Drop (1999) and William Finnegan's Barbarian Days (2015)."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

About the Author

Dan Reiter lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on a dissolving barrier island. His surf writing has been featured in The Surfer's Journal, Surfer Magazine, and Eastern Surf Magazine, and his short stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, Tin House, and the Kenyon Review.